Transcript A Meeting Planner’s Guide to Catered Events Chapter Four

A Meeting Planner’s
Guide to Catered
Events
Chapter Four
On- and Off-Premise Caterers
On-premise catering
 Also called “on-site catering.”
 Any function – banquet, reception, or
other event – held on the physical
premises of the establishment or facility
producing and serving the function.
Off-Premise catering
 Also called “off-site catering.”
 Food, beverage, equipment, and servers
are transported to a remote location,
such as a museum, park, natural
attraction, or a private home.
 Items are transported to a location away
from the caterer’s primary production
facility.
On-premise caterers
 Hotels, convention centers, conference
centers, and restaurants, etc.
 Usually have the advantage of offering
many services under one roof.
 Can usually guarantee sufficient space to
house the entire event.
 Can usually guarantee adequate parking.
Hotels
 Hotels often have advantages over other
types of caterers because they can
handle several types of events
simultaneously and in the same location.
 Most meeting or convention attendees
are usually housed at a host hotel.
Hotels
 Meeting planners will deal primarily with
hotel caterers.
 Hotels are usually very good at servicing
the particular market niche(s) they’ve
identified as their strength.
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Hotels
 Hotel catering departments are organized
according to the needs of the particular
property.
 In hotels, the primary profit center is its
sleeping-rooms division, with the catering
department usually being the second most
profitable department.
 Therefore, hotel departments generally are
organized and administered to maximize the
sales and profits of sleeping rooms and
catered events.
Two types of hotel
structures
1. The catering department is organized so all
catering personnel are under the supervision
of the hotel's food and beverage director.
2. The catering department is organized so
catering personnel are under the supervision
of the hotel sales and marketing director, with
other employees, including the convention
service, banquet service and setup staff, still
reporting to the food and beverage director.
F&B Model
 F&B director is responsible for the hotel's kitchens, restaurant
outlets, and banquet operations as well as for client solicitation
and service.
 The catering department must secure the right to sell function
space from the sales department, which controls all meeting
space.
 Sales managers are often reluctant to call their clients and ask
them to release space that they are holding as part of a meeting
they have booked.
 Meetings are often booked years in advance, and savvy meeting
planners, not knowing all of their space needs that far in advance,
will institute a "hold all space" clause in their contracts.
 Convention service managers usually report to the sales
department and are primarily responsible for room setup, but not
for food and beverage service.
Sales and Marketing
Model
 Catering managers and convention service managers would be in
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the same department, both taking care of the food, beverage, and
room setup needs.
The convention service managers don’t sell the event, but take
over client business booked by sales and marketing.
They handle planning and logistics of meals and receptions and
develop the appropriate service procedures.
Any selling would be "upselling," or trying to get the meeting
planner to purchase a more expensive meal, wine, or service.
Catering managers sell short-term food and beverage events to
the local market, or to functions without sleeping rooms, such as
weddings, local banquets, etc.
With catering sales revenue being the responsibility of the
marketing director, rather than food and beverage, sales
managers are more likely to call clients to get rooms released for
local banquets.
Advantages of F&B Model
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Increased Efficiency
Isolated Responsibility
Job Enrichment
Repeat Patronage
Improved Communications
Disadvantages of F&B
Model
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Excessive Workload
Too Many Bosses
Lack of Specialization
Excessive Delegation
Sales and Marketing
Model
 The advantages and disadvantages
associated with the organizational form
where marketing is in control are the
opposites of those associated with the
organizational format that places food
and beverage in control.
 There is no one single organizational form
suitable for all hotels.
 The F&B model is the most typical
organizational pattern.
 Catering and convention service staffs work
together, each handling specific activities.
 Catering typically handles all food and
beverage requirements while convention
service handles all nonfood arrangements,
such as room setups and audiovisual.
Convention Center
 Major advantage over hotel caterers is that it
can handle much larger groups.
 Typical convention centers also have a wide
selection of available space to suit the needs of
very large groups.
 Most convention centers are public facilities.
 Catering is usually handled by contract food
service companies that act as independent
business entities.
Conference Centers
 Conference centers have sleeping rooms and
meeting rooms, but do not offer exhibit space.
 Smaller meetings that do not have trade shows
or other types of exhibits may find this more
appealing.
 They offer a complete meeting package (CMP),
which includes meals.
 Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are generally
available in a cafeteria-type setup.
Conference Centers
 A group can be served any time it decides to
break.
 Keeps from having to break in the middle of a
productive session just because it is noon.
 If more than one group is in the facility, they will
each be assigned areas of the dining room.
 Refreshments are usually available at any time
outside of the meeting rooms, allowing breaks at
appropriate times.
 Conference centers can also provide banquets and
receptions on request.
Restaurants
 Local restaurants are good choices with small groups.
 For example, Board of directors that require a small,
private dinner.
 Breaks the monotony of eating several meals in large
banquet facilities.
 Restaurants may be the only choice if you have to let
attendees order off a regular menu.
 Most caterers will not consider an a la carte menu for a
large group, as it would be nearly impossible to
accommodate every taste and diet restriction .
 Well-run, full-service restaurant may be able to handle
this challenge.
Off-Premise Caterers
 Can operate in just about any place
you can think of, from parks, to
museums, to yachts, to hot air
balloons.
 Tents (also known as “portable
rooms”) are often used, which allows
the caterer to create almost any type
of theme.
Off-Premise
 Most conventions and meetings will have
at least one off-premise event, often the
opening reception, closing gala, or a
themed event.
 Attendees want to experience some of
the flavor of the destination, and they
often get “cabin fever” if they never leave
the host hotel.
Off-Premise
 Events can be outsourced to a destination
management company (DMC).
 DMCs are familiar with the location and have
relationships established with the unique
venues in the area.
 Almost every destination has distinctive spaces
for parties: Southfork in Dallas, the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, the Getty
Museum in Los Angeles, etc.
 In Las Vegas, the Liberace Mansion is
available for parties.
Off-Premise
 Often you first select the site you want.
 Catering options may be limited.
 For instance, if you want to use the Orfila
Winery in San Diego for an event, the
owner will rent the facilities to you.
 Then you have to select a caterer from a
list of caterers approved by the owner.